Powerful Bible Verses about Forgiveness
Forgiveness is one of the most powerful and life-changing acts that any individual can choose to experience. It reflects faith, hope, and love, as it requires us to put aside our pride and look at our fellow human beings with compassion.
To help guide individuals in their journey toward forgiveness, the bible offers many encouraging words about its power.
The scriptures are full of verses that emphasize the importance of forgiveness in both our personal lives and our relationships with others.
One verse that speaks powerfully about forgiveness comes from Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (ESV).
This verse reminds us of God’s mercy and grace in forgiving us when we ask for His forgiveness. It also encourages us to extend this same grace to those who have hurt or wronged us by forgiving them as well.
Aside from this verse, there are over 100 bible verses about forgiveness that can encourage us to forgive others’ wrongs. Read this article to get over 150 powerful bible verses that speak about forgiveness.
Bible Verses about Forgiveness
Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Colossians 3:13 (NIV) Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Matthew 6:14 (NIV) For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:15 (NIV) But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 18:21 (NIV) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Matthew 18:22 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
2 Samuel 19:23 (NIV) So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king promised him on oath.
1 Samuel 26:23 (NIV) The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.
Ezekiel 18:22 (NIV) None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.
Mark 3:28 (NIV) Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Genesis 33:11 (NIV) Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
Leviticus 5:10 (NIV) The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven.
II Kings 24:4 (NKJV) And also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.
II Chronicles 6:25 (NKJV) then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
II Chronicles 6:39 (NKJV) then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
Psalms 99:8 (NKJV) You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Amos 7:2 (NKJV) And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!”
Matthew 18:35 (NKJV) “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Luke 14:19 (NKJV) And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
Best Bible Verses about Forgiveness to Others
Romans 1:20 (NKJV) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Romans 2:15 (NKJV) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
II Corinthians 12:19 (NKJV) Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification.
I Samuel 25:28 (NKJV) Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days.
I Kings 8:30 (NKJV) And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.
I Kings 8:39 (NKJV) then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men),
I Kings 8:50 (NKJV) And forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them
II Chronicles 6:21 (NKJV) And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.
II Chronicles 6:30 (NKJV) then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),
Job 7:21 (NKJV) Why then do You not pardon my transgression, And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.”
Ecclesiastes 5:6 (NKJV) Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?
Isaiah 40:2 (NKJV) “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV) Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Jeremiah 5:1 (NKJV) “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
Jeremiah 5:7 (NKJV) “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Jeremiah 33:8 (NKJV) I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
Jeremiah 36:3 (NKJV) It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that every one may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
Jeremiah 50:20 (NKJV) In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.
1 Samuel 24:7 (NIV) With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
1 Samuel 24:10 (NIV) This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’
2 Samuel 16:9 (NIV) Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.”
Romans 3:23 (NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 12:19 (NIV) Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
Matthew 5:44 (NIV) But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Scriptural Verses about Forgiveness of Sins
Genesis 50:19 (NIV) But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
Luke 11:4 (NIV) Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ’ ”
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
James 5:16 (NIV) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Genesis 33:4 (NIV) But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
2 Samuel 18:5 (NIV) The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders.
1 Kings 2:8 (NIV) “And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’
1 Kings 2:9 (NIV) But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.”
1 Kings 13:3 (NIV) That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
Psalms 7:4 (NIV) if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe—
Psalms 37:8 (NIV) Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Psalms 25:11 (NKJV) For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Psalms 25:18 (NKJV) Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins.
Luke 14:18 (NKJV) But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’
II Corinthians 2:10 (NKJV) Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
Exodus 23:21 (NKJV) Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
Exodus 32:32 (NKJV) Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
I Samuel 15:25 (NKJV) Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
I Kings 8:34 (NKJV) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
Psalms 86:5 (NKJV) For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
Isaiah 2:9 (NKJV) People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.
Mark 2:7 (NKJV) “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Mark 2:10 (NKJV) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
Luke 5:21 (NKJV) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Luke 7:49 (NKJV) And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
John 15:22 (NKJV) If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Read Also: 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Peace
Verses about Forgiveness and Healing
John 20:23 (NKJV) If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
II Corinthians 2:7 (NKJV) so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.
II Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Genesis 50:17 (NKJV) ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
II Kings 5:18 (NKJV) Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”
Exodus 10:17 (NKJV) Now, therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.”
Exodus 34:7 (NKJV) keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Numbers 14:18 (NKJV) ‘The Lord is long-suffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’
Numbers 14:19 (NKJV) Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Joshua 24:19 (NKJV) But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
II Kings 24:4 (NKJV) And also because of the innocent blood he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.
II Chronicles 6:25 (NKJV) then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
II Chronicles 6:39 (NKJV) then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
Psalms 99:8 (NKJV) You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Amos 7:2 (NKJV) And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!”
Matthew 18:35 (NKJV) “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Luke 14:19 (NKJV) And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
Romans 1:20 (NKJV) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Romans 2:15 (NKJV) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
II Corinthians 12:19 (NKJV) Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification.
I Samuel 25:28 (NKJV) Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days.
I Kings 8:30 (NKJV) And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.
Read Also: 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Homosexuality
Bible Verses about Forgiveness and Reconciliation
I Kings 8:39 (NKJV) then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men),
I Kings 8:50 (NKJV) and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them
Verses about Forgiveness and Sin
II Chronicles 6:21 (NKJV) And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.
II Chronicles 6:30 (NKJV) then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),
Job 7:21 (NKJV) Why then do You not pardon my transgression, And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.”
Ecclesiastes 5:6 (NKJV) Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?
Isaiah 40:2 (NKJV) “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord’s hand Double for all her sins.”
Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV) Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Jeremiah 5:1 (NKJV) “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.
Jeremiah 5:7 (NKJV) “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Jeremiah 33:8 (NKJV) I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.
Jeremiah 36:3 (NKJV) It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
Jeremiah 50:20 (NKJV) In those days and in that time,” says the Lord, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.
Daniel 9:19 (NKJV) O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Micah 7:18 (NKJV) Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
Matthew 9:6 (NKJV) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Luke 5:24 (NKJV) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Exodus 34:9 (NKJV) Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
II Chronicles 6:27 (NKJV) then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
Nehemiah 9:17 (NKJV) They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.
Jeremiah 31:34 (NKJV) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Luke 23:34 (NIV) Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Matthew 26:28 (NIV) This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 11:25 (NIV) And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Colossians 1:14 (NIV) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Psalms 130:4 (NIV) But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Luke 1:77 (NIV) to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
Mark 1:4 (NIV) And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 3:3 (NIV) He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke 24:47 (NIV) and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 10:43 (NIV) All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Acts 13:38 (NIV) “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Ephesians 1:7 (NIV) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Hebrews 9:22 (NIV) In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Acts 2:38 (NIV) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 26:18 (NIV) to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Matthew 6:12 (NIV) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
1 Kings 1:53 (NIV) Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.”
Luke 17:4 (NIV) Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Conclusion
The Bible offers a wealth of verses on the subject of forgiveness. It is clear from these passages that forgiveness is essential for living in harmony with God and our fellow human beings. The Bible gives us hope and assurance that we can be forgiven for our wrongs and that we must forgive others in order to receive mercy from God. In addition, forgiveness enables us to move forward in life free from bitterness and hatred.
Related Articles
- 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Anxiety
- 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Marriage
- 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Friendship
- 150 Powerful Bible Verses about Life
Source
